BILL NUMBER: SB 11	CHAPTERED  07/22/99

	CHAPTER   136
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 22, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   JULY 21, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   JULY 8, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   APRIL 29, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 6, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Schiff, Costa, and Rainey
   (Coauthors:  Senators Karnette, Leslie, McPherson, O'Connell,
Polanco, and Solis)
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Alquist, Campbell, Cunneen,
Dickerson, Dutra, Granlund, Havice, House, Leach, Longville, Machado,
Margett, Oller, Pescetti, and Scott)

                        DECEMBER 7, 1998

   An act to amend Section 6601 of, and to add and repeal Section
6601.1 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to sexually
violent predators, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 11, Schiff.  Sexually violent predators.
   Under existing law, whenever the Director of Corrections
determines that an individual who is in custody, and who is either
serving a determinate prison sentence or whose parole has been
revoked, may be a sexually violent predator, the director is required
to refer the person for evaluation by the State Department of Mental
Health.  If the State Department of Mental Health determines that
the person is a sexually violent predator, the Director of Mental
Health is required to forward a request for a petition for commitment
to be filed by the county in which the person was convicted of the
offense for which the person was committed to the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections.
   This bill would provide that a petition may be filed if the
individual was in custody pursuant to his or her determinate prison
term, parole revocation term, or hold placed for an evaluation under
specified provisions of law at the time the petition is filed, and
shall not be dismissed on the basis of a later judicial or
administrative determination that the custody was unlawful if the
unlawful custody was the result of a good faith mistake of fact or
law.  This bill would provide that it applies to any petition filed
on or after January 1, 1996.  This bill would provide that this
provision is declaratory of existing law.
   This bill would require the Department of Justice, in cooperation
with the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency and the State Department
of Mental Health, to report certain information to the Legislature
on or before January 1, 2002.
  This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 6601 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   6601.  (a) (1) Whenever the Director of Corrections determines
that an individual who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections, and who is either serving a determinate
prison sentence or whose parole has been revoked, may be a sexually
violent predator, the director shall, at least six months prior to
that individual's scheduled date for release from prison, refer the
person for evaluation in accordance with this section.  However, if
the inmate was received by the department with less than nine months
of his or her sentence to serve, or if the inmate's release date is
modified by judicial or administrative action, the director may refer
the person for evaluation in accordance with this section at a date
that is less than six months prior to the inmate's scheduled release
date.
   (2) A petition may be filed under this section if the individual
was in custody pursuant to his or her determinate prison term, parole
revocation term, or a hold placed pursuant to Section 6601.3, at the
time the petition is filed.  A petition shall not be dismissed on
the basis of a later judicial or administrative determination that
the individual's custody was unlawful, if the unlawful custody was
the result of a good faith mistake of fact or law.  This paragraph
shall apply to any petition filed on or after January 1, 1996.
   (b) The person shall be screened by the Department of Corrections
and the Board of Prison Terms based on whether the person has
committed a sexually violent predatory offense and on a review of the
person's social, criminal, and institutional history.  This
screening shall be conducted in accordance with a structured
screening instrument developed and updated by the State Department of
Mental Health in consultation with the Department of Corrections.
If as a result of this screening it is determined that the person is
likely to be a sexually violent predator, the Department of
Corrections shall refer the person to the State Department of Mental
Health for a full evaluation of whether the person meets the criteria
in Section 6600.
   (c) The State Department of Mental Health shall evaluate the
person in accordance with a standardized assessment protocol,
developed and updated by the State Department of Mental Health, to
determine whether the person is a sexually violent predator as
defined in this article.  The standardized assessment protocol shall
require assessment of diagnosable mental disorders, as well as
various factors known to be associated with the risk of reoffense
among sex offenders.  Risk factors to be considered shall include
criminal and psychosexual history, type, degree, and duration of
sexual deviance, and severity of mental disorder.
   (d) Pursuant to subdivision (c), the person shall be evaluated by
two practicing psychiatrists or psychologists, or one practicing
psychiatrist and one practicing psychologist, designated by the
Director of Mental Health.  If both evaluators concur that the person
has a diagnosed mental disorder so that he or she is likely to
engage in acts of sexual violence without appropriate treatment and
custody, the Director of Mental Health shall forward a request for a
petition for commitment under Section 6602 to the county designated
in subdivision (i).  Copies of the evaluation reports and any other
supporting documents shall be made available to the attorney
designated by the county pursuant to subdivision (i) who may file a
petition for commitment.
   (e) If one of the professionals performing the evaluation pursuant
to subdivision (d) does not concur that the person meets the
criteria specified in subdivision (d), but the other professional
concludes that the person meets those criteria, the Director of
Mental Health shall arrange for further examination of the person by
two independent professionals selected in accordance with subdivision
(g).
   (f) If an examination by independent professionals pursuant to
subdivision (e) is conducted, a petition to request commitment under
this article shall only be filed if both independent professionals
who evaluate the person pursuant to subdivision (e) concur that the
person meets the criteria for commitment specified in subdivision
(d).  The professionals selected to evaluate the person pursuant to
subdivision (g) shall inform the person that the purpose of their
examination is not treatment but to determine if the person meets
certain criteria to be involuntarily committed pursuant to this
article.  It is not required that the person appreciate or understand
that information.
   (g) Any independent professional who is designated by the Director
of Corrections or the Director of Mental Health for purposes of this
section shall not be a state government employee, shall have at
least five years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of
mental disorders, and shall include psychiatrists and licensed
psychologists who have a doctoral degree in psychology.  The
requirements set forth in this section also shall apply to any
professionals appointed by the court to evaluate the person for
purposes of any other proceedings under this article.
   (h) If the State Department of Mental Health determines that the
person is a sexually violent predator as defined in this article, the
Director of Mental Health shall forward a request for a petition to
be filed for commitment under this article to the county designated
in subdivision (i).  Copies of the evaluation reports and any other
supporting documents shall be made available to the attorney
designated by the county pursuant to subdivision (i) who may file a
petition for commitment in the superior court.
   (i) If the county's designated counsel concurs with the
recommendation, a petition for commitment shall be filed in the
superior court of the county in which the person was convicted of the
offense for which he or she was committed to the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections.  The petition shall be filed, and the
proceedings shall be handled, by either the district attorney or the
county counsel of that county.  The county board of supervisors shall
designate either the district attorney or the county counsel to
assume responsibility for proceedings under this article.
   (j) The time limits set forth in this section shall not apply
during the first year that this article is operative.
   (k) If the person is otherwise subject to parole, a finding or
placement made pursuant to this article shall not toll, discharge, or
otherwise affect the term of parole pursuant to Article 1
(commencing with Section 3000) of Chapter 8 of Title 1 of Part 3 of
the Penal Code.
   (l) Pursuant to subdivision (d), the attorney designated by the
county pursuant to subdivision (i) shall notify the State Department
of Mental Health of its decision regarding the filing of a petition
for commitment within 15 days of making that decision.
  SEC. 2.  Section 6601.1 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   6601.1.  (a) The Department of Justice, in cooperation with the
Youth and Adult Correctional Agency and the State Department of
Mental Health, shall report to the Legislature, on or before January
1, 2002, all of the following with regard to petitions to declare
persons to be sexually violent predators filed pursuant to Section
6601 between July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2001:
   (1) The number of cases in which, despite a later judicial or
administrative finding that a person's custody was unlawful, a
petition filed under Section 6601 is not dismissed pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 6601 because the unlawful
custody was the result of a good faith mistake of fact or law.
   (2) The circumstances in each case in which a petition filed
pursuant to Section 6601 went forward despite a good faith mistake of
fact or law that resulted in the unlawful custody of the person.
   (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2003, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  The Legislature finds and declares that paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 6601 is declaratory of existing law.  The
Sexually Violent Predator Act authorizes civil commitment of persons
who pose a danger as a result of a mental disorder if released from
custody.  Therefore, where a petition for commitment of a sexually
violent predator has been filed, it is not the intent of the
Legislature that a person be released based upon a subsequent
judicial or administrative finding that all or part of a determinate
prison sentence, parole revocation term, or a hold placed pursuant to
Section 6601.3, was unlawful.
  SEC. 4.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to provide immediate protection to the public from
sexually violent predators, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.
